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Abstract

The paper examines national sports not only as a practice of revitalizing traditional forms, but also as part of cultural heritage that requires preservation, representation, and promotion. In this context, it is possible to speak about the process of the “museumization” of images and meanings associated with national sports, when they begin to be perceived as symbols of history, culture, and national identity. These transformations are connected with the development of cultural policy, the growing interest in intangible cultural heritage, and the emergence of new forms of representing tradition in museum spaces, festivals, ethno-cultural complexes, and official cultural events.

The paper analyzes how national sports in contemporary Kazakhstan acquire new meanings and functions beyond their original social context. Particular attention is given to the ways in which processes of preservation, display, and popularization produce new representations of tradition that are used to strengthen historical memory, national identity, and state cultural policy.